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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LostSoul" data-source="post: 5638490" data-attributes="member: 386">I see two ways to do this; let's call option A "High-Prep" and option B "Low-Prep".Option A:What is the PC's objective?  The PCs need to get to their objective and need to make choices that get them closer.  Let's structure it that way.  Each success should represent the PCs getting closer to their objective.  Hiding isn't going to help; it might allow PCs to avoid a large horde, but isn't going to get them closer.Draw a map.  Put a number of "locations" on the map so that the shortest route is equal to the complexity of the challenge.Skill Checks:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Hiding might allow the PCs to avoid the horde, but won't get them closer.  At best it's a "stalling" option.  This could be the only way to get a Short Rest.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> The path to the objective shouldn't be known except through some successful checks.  These simply make the choices clearer; they don't add successes.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> PCs may backtrack away from their objective if they find that they are in trouble.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Failed checks should mean different things depending on what's going on.  Failed checks might not always bring the attention of zombies.  If the PCs fail the check by one category (Hard - Moderate - Easy - total failure) it shouldn't draw the attention of the zombies; instead it should be some minor failure based on their action.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Moving from location to location should require different skill sets depending on the nature of the location.  Stealth is obvious.  Athletics could be used to hack through a bramble.  Endurance could be used to wade through an icy river or swim a lake.  Acrobatics could be used to balance on an old, crumbling wall.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">When making group checks, the PC with the lowest modifier should roll.  Other PCs may help, if they describe how they can help.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Each location should be interesting in its own right and allow for some kind of special interaction.  Jot down a few notes about each: A ruined temple.  This temple fell decades ago.  Crows roost in the skeletal beams.  Water still collects in a font; PCs who drink this water gain a +2 bonus to their neck check. An old graveyard.  The dead have already moved on from this place.  The stench of necrotic energy overwhelms zombie senses, making this a good place to hide; however, each time the PCs take a Short Rest, there is a chance (3-in-6) that hateful incorporeal undead will attack them. A huddled mass of people, hiding in an abandoned farmhouse.  These people are terrified and unable to defend themselves.  When they see the PCs they will get excited and start making a lot of noise - drawing the attention of the horde.  They must be calmed down or they will draw the horde.  If the PCs take the people with them, roll the skill level of the horde - +2 - instead of the PC's usual modifiers.  If the horde arrives, they will devour the people instead of the PCs, making them a useful decoy. A crumbling fort.  This fort is an excellent place to hole up for a Short Rest - no check required as long as the PCs have something they can jam the old doors with.  Within the fort is ... something the PCs can use. A forest guarded by the fey.  The fey refuse to let the PCs through because they are drawing the zombies.  They will negotiate (a skill challenge on its own) for passage; they ask too much: start off with 100 years of service from a PC. A series of ancient, skeletal steel towers connected by steel cables.  I like science-fantasy.  The PCs can climb the towers and traverse along the cables over the zombies.  Dangerous, though; age has weakened them, and the zombies might spot the PCs against the sky. An icy white-water river.  The PCs can use an old raft to try to navigate it.  They risk going off-course and/or falling into the ice-cold water and drowning.  However, they can pick up some good time here. </li> </ul>You'll want to take a look a the rituals the PCs have and figure out how they work.Option B:You're basically going to ad-lib the whole thing.  This can be fine.  Here are your procedures:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Always present a challenge to the PCs after each roll.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Always ask the players to describe their actions.  Don't resolve a skill check, make the skill check resolve the action.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Only actions that take the PCs closer to their objective count as a success.  Others might grant a bonus to the next roll, or just do nothing, depending on the action taken.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">After each roll, change the situation.  If the first challenge is sneaking past zombies (Stealth), put them on top of a cliff that they have to climb down (Athletics).  At that point you can have them meet a bunch of people who need to be calmed down or they will attract the zombies (Diplomacy).  Then they may come across a fey ring/sealed dwarven tunnel/portal that requires knowledge to bypass (Nature/Dungeoneering/Arcana).  Basically you want to switch up the relevant stat each time.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Failure should make things worse, and it should be tied to what the PCs are doing.  Some failed checks might mean a quick combat with a time limit (3 rounds to make it to the far side of the map!), others might mean falling down a cliff and losing healing surges.  No XP for these encounters!</li> </ul></blockquote>

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